Democrats on a powerful House committee have released new emails they say raise serious questions aboutUS President Donald Trump's knowledge of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's crimes.
In one of three emails released, the disgraced financier told girlfriendGhislaine Maxwell in April 2011 that someone - who the committee described as a victim of Epstein and whose name has been redacted -"spent hours at my house with him".
In another email, to author Michael Wolff in 2019, Epstein claimed Trump"knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop".
In a third email from 2015, Epstein and Wolff discussed how to respond to questions about Trump as he ran for the Republican presidential candidate nomination.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released the three emails on Wednesday (early Thursday AEDT), claiming they raised questions about"Trump and Epstein's relationship, Trump's knowledge of Epstein's crimes and relationship to victims".
"The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover," ranking Democrat Robert Garcia said.
"These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the president."
They obtained the emails in a tranche of 23,000 documents after subpoenaing Epstein's estate earlier this year.
The 2019 email with Wolff is seemingly in reference to Trump'sclaim that he kicked Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club for poaching young women who worked there.
"Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever," Epstein said.
"Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop"
Trump did not receive or send any of the messages, which largely predated his time as president, and he has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or Maxwell.
Maxwell told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in an interview earlier this year that she "never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way", and that she didn't recall ever seeing Trump at Epstein's house. She said she did witness the two men together in social settings.
The Oversight Committee, led by Republican James Comer, is one of the most powerful in Congress, with broad leeway to investigate nearly anything.
Members have long used the panel's clout to command attention and investigate scandals inside and outside the government, including the Epstein case.
Earlier this year, the committee's Democrats notably releasedEpstein's so-called"birthday book" featuring a note bearing President Donald Trump's name.
Comer at the time said it was"appalling" for Democrats to release the sketch and accused them of engaging in "cherry-picking documents and politicising information" to imply without evidence that Trump was involved in Epstein's actions.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Despite his death, details of his relationships with wealthy and powerful people continue to face immense scrutiny.
The Epstein case has been a political headache for Trump, who reneged on a pledge during his 2024 election campaign to release Epstein-related files from a Department of Justice investigation.
That prompted an outcry from Trump's conservative base, including some members of Congress.
Epstein was first jailed in June 2008, sentenced to 18 months in a minimum-security prison after pleading guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18.
He was released from prison in July 2009, having served just 13 months.
